The Weekend Sports Recap
The dog days of summer may be creeping closer, but we haven’t quite reached that point where we’re looking at the calendar praying for football to just get here already.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are down to the final four, the NBA Playoffs are rolling along, and the College World Series bracket in Omaha is nearly set. The Daily Wire tries to watch every sporting event — you try watching every single sporting event the weekend provides and get back to me — and this weekend was a doozy.
Let’s take a look at the highlights from the weekend in sports — what we saw and what you missed.
NBA Playoffs
Injuries dictated the NBA regular season, and it’s starting to look like the championship will go to whichever team can avoid the injury bug the longest. Kyrie Irving looks to have a bad high ankle sprain and the 2021 MVP has been bounced from the playoffs without putting up a fight.
Here is a quick dive into where the NBA Playoffs stand.
Phoenix Suns vs Denver Nuggets:
I’m not sure if the takeaway from this series is that Nikola Jokic, the NBA MVP, bowed out early without winning a game in the second round, or that Chris Paul is the “point god.” Alright, it’s definitely that Paul is an all-time great.
Friday night, Phoenix took a commanding 3-0 series lead with a 116-102 win in Denver. Nikola Jokic became just the third player to ever record 30 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in an NBA playoff game, and Denver still lost by double-digits. The four remaining starters only scored 30 combined points, and Chris Paul had 27 points, eight assists and three steals to put a chokehold on the series.
Sunday night, Phoenix put the series on ice, securing their first Western Conference Finals appearance in 11 years. Jokic was ejected late in the third quarter and the Nuggets went down with a whimper. The ejection came after Jokic attempted to commit a hard foul, but caught Cameron Payne in the face.
“I wanted to change the rhythm of the game, I wanted to give us some energy,” Jokic said. “I tried to make a hard foul. Did I hit him? I didn’t know. I say sorry if I did because I didn’t want to injure him or hit him in the head on purpose.”
Phoenix awaits the winner of the Jazz and Clippers series, and will be well rested for the Western Conference Finals.
LA Clippers vs Utah Jazz:
After losing the first two games in Salt Lake City, the Clippers returned to the friendly confines of Staples Center on Saturday and were able to come away with a 132-106 victory. It was about time Kawhi Leonard and Paul George put it all together, and they certainly did to cut the deficit in the series to 2-1.
Leonard scored 34 points to go along with George’s 31, as the Clippers shot 52.8% from beyond the arc. Donovan Mitchell tweaked his ankle in the fourth quarter and didn’t return to the game. Utah will certainly be monitoring the injury ahead of game four Monday night at 10:00pm ET.
Philadelphia 76ers vs Atlanta Hawks:
Things are starting to look pretty good for the Eastern Conference one seed. With Brooklyn reeling from injuries, and Joel Embiid seemingly ok with torn cartilage in his right knee, the Sixers have to like their chances.
On Friday night, Philadelphia took a 2-1 series lead behind 27 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and three blocks from Embiid.
“I’m OK,” Embiid said when asked about his injury. “I’m standing up. I’m walking. I finished the game. So I’m gonna keep getting back up. I’m going to keep fighting. That’s been me since I’ve been playing basketball. … Whatever happens, get back up and keep it going.”
Game four is Monday night at 7:30 p.m. ET in Atlanta.
Brooklyn Nets vs Milwaukee Bucks:
Oh how things can change on a dime in sports. After two games of the Nets and Bucks second round series, the calls for Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer to be fired were as loud as they’ve ever been. The Nets were rolling — up 2-0 in the series — and coming off a 39-point victory in Game two. And then the series flipped.
The Bucks eeked out a 86-83 game three victory Thursday, and on Sunday afternoon, tied up the series behind 34 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo. The story after the game however, focused on the ankle injury to Irving that he suffered midway through the second quarter. Irving appeared to have badly sprained his ankle and didn’t return to the game.
“I have no idea what’s going to happen with [Kyrie] in the coming days,” Nets coach Steve Nash said after the game. “We’ll cross our fingers and hope that it’s better than — I don’t know, better than what? — better than missing the next game.”
With James Harden already out with a hamstring injury, the Nets are now down to just one star — Kevin Durant. And while x-rays were negative for Irving, you have to think he’ll miss a good amount of time from the injury — high ankle sprains are bad news. The Nets were rolling, and now they’re in a whole heap of trouble.
NHL Playoffs
It was a light weekend in the Stanley Cup playoffs, with only one game being played. The New York Islanders beat the Tampa Bay Lighting in game 1 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals. Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves and Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock had a goal apiece as the Islanders won 2-1 to take a 1-0 series lead.
The other semifinal — Montreal Canadiens vs Vegas Golden Knights — kicks off Monday night in Las Vegas at 9:00 p.m. EST.
College Baseball
There are few things better than college baseball, and the Super Regionals have lived up to the hype.
The number one overall seed — the Arkansas Razorbacks — were knocked out as the NC State Wolfpack won game three to advance to the College World Series. According to ESPN, this will be the 21st consecutive season in which the number one overall seed will not win the national title.
The other teams to earn a trip to Omaha are Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, Vanderbilt and Stanford. The final two slots will be filled Monday with Dallas Baptist and Virginia playing at 1:00 p.m. ET, and Notre Dame and Mississippi State playing at 7:00 p.m. ET.
French Open
The 2021 French Open was filled with storylines. Naomi Osaka withdrew after citing issues with her mental health, and Roger Federer withdrew following his third-round victory, citing his health.
“After discussions with my team, I’ve decided I will need to pull out of the French Open today,” Federer posted to Twitter. “After two knee surgeries and over a year of rehabilitation it’s important that I listen to my body and make sure I don’t push myself too quickly on my road to recovery. I am thrilled to have gotten 3 matches under my belt. There is no greater feeling than being back on court.”
But the games went on, and the French Open champions were crowned for both the women and the men.
Novak Djokovic willed himself to a comeback victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday — 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 — to claim his 19th Grand Slam title on the men’s side.
For the women, Barbora Krejcikova became the sixth straight first-time major champion at the French open, defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. The unseeded Krejcikova won in just her fifth major tournament appearance as a singles player.
First Slam Feels 🙌@BKrejcikova captures her maiden major singles title, defeating Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/Moql4x4XFD
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 12, 2021
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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